http://themilitant.com/2015/7938/793832.html
The Militant (logo)
Vol. 79/No. 38 October 26, 2015
—ON THE PICKET LINE—
Maggie Trowe, Editor
Militant/Bernie Senter
Warehouse workers at California Cartage in Long Beach rally Sept. 23
during three-day strike for higher wages and safer working conditions.
Vast majority work through temp agencies.
Help the Militant cover labor struggles across the country!
This column is dedicated to spreading the truth about the labor
resistance that is unfolding today. It seeks to give voice to those
engaged in battle and help build solidarity. Its success depends on
input from readers. If you are involved in a labor struggle or have
information on one, please contact me at 306 W. 37th St., 13th Floor,
New York, NY 10018; or (212) 244-4899; or themilitant@xxxxxxx. We’ll
work together to ensure your story is told.
— Maggie Trowe
NZ meat workers reject individual ‘contracts,’ fight company lockout
WAIROA, New Zealand — Workers locked out by the AFFCO meat processing
company a month ago are holding regular protests on the main highway
through town and attracting broader support.
The company locked out 170 of the 450 workers at the plant here because
they refuse to sign “Individual Employment Agreements.” The agreements
include cuts to seniority, shift changes without consultation,
compulsory overtime, fewer breaks and less pay. AFFCO refuses to renew
the collective union contract, which expired in 2013.
“If we hadn’t made a stand, no one would be aware of these cutbacks,”
Peter Amato, shop steward for the beef slaughter department, told the
Militant at the Oct. 9 protest. The company has imposed the agreements
at four of its five largest plants. Workers at the Moerewa plant in
Northland have yet to be called back from the off-season.
Donations of money and food are coming in, and the dispute is a big
talking point in this small rural town.
Members of the teachers union NZEI have joined protests and collected
NZ$2,500 (US$1,680) to support the meat workers.
The local Maori tribe has donated space for an organizing center. Sue
Watson, who works in lamb cuts at AFFCO, helped organize a food bank
during a lockout in 2012. “We’ve got the local supermarket to discount
some items” for a food bank this time, she said.
Workers were upbeat after 19 of them traveled to Auckland to back a
court case brought by the union against AFFCO charging the lockout is
illegal. “Auckland embraced us,” said Amato Oct. 9. As they walked
around the city center wearing union T-shirts, “people were saying to us
‘go the union’ and ‘go Wairoa,’” he said.
Employment Court judges have yet to rule in the case.
—Felicity Coggan
Calif. warehouse workers strike for higher wages, safety
LOS ANGELES — California Cartage warehouse workers at the port here went
on strike Sept. 22-24 to protest low wages and dangerous working
conditions. “I’ve been working at Cal Cartage for 22 years,” Manuel
Reyes told a Sept. 23 rally. “In the last six years I’ve gotten a
30-cent raise. They treat us bad, humiliate us.”
Reyes makes $11.70 an hour and when he had an accident and was off work
for a week, he didn’t get paid, Reyes told the Militant. “They told me,
‘You’ve worked here a long time, you need to know where all the holes in
the floor are,’ instead of repairing them,” he said.
The workers do not have a union but are supported by the Warehouse
Workers Resource Center and the Teamsters union. Some 80 percent work
through temp agencies.
“It’s like day labor work,” one of them said. “You go in and don’t know
if you will work that day. If you say something to the supervisor, they
don’t call you in for a few days. During the holidays, they hire lots of
people and if they want to get rid of them, they ask for papers. Temp
agencies change names three times a year to avoid paying holidays. They
sell back braces for $20 and gloves for $1 that last one day.”
Several unions and organizations attended the rally, including members
of OUR Walmart, United Food and Commercial Workers union, UNITE HERE and
Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice.
“I’m here because there is a lot of injustice,” said Salomon Fuentes,
who has worked at Walmart for nine years and is active with OUR Walmart,
which is fighting for higher wages and full-time hours. “It’s the
system, not one business. Alone we are powerless. It’s more possible to
win something if we are united. Where I work they want us to do the same
work with 40 percent less people.”
—Deborah Liatos
Related articles:
Lac-Mégantic action demands rail safety, condemns frame-up
Autoworkers’ rejection of Fiat two-tier deal forces new offer
Solidarity rally in Chicago backs Quebec safety fight
Farmworkers: We get respect, dignity with the union
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